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Yaretzi
Light Cobalt Bluish Gray Moderate Cornflower Blue|mane = Brilliant Arctic Blue|eyes = Moderate Cyan|wings = Moderate Cornflower Blue}}Yaretzi is a feathered dragon currently living on the outskirts of Ponyville. Incredibly intelligent and haughty, she considers herself "Ponyville's preeminent draconic archivist," with the goal of preserving mundane information about the town and its inhabitants for the benefit of future generations. Background Hatching and early life Yaretzi hatched somewhere in the Tenochtitlan Basin on the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. For reasons unknown, her kind considers this to be an unlucky day, and the associated stigma followed her through her childhood into the present, where it continues to exert influences. Otherwise, her hatchday was unremarkable; an average dragon produced by average parents with no other siblings. As a whelp, Yaretzi was mostly unremarkable compared to her peers, though had one key difference. While most dragons her age would want to stay in the warmth and safety of their secluded cave dwellings, she wanted to explore, and would frequently wander away from her parents. Though Yaretzi would occasionally find herself in danger as a result, she never learned her lesson. It was just how she was. Teenage years and coming of age As Yaretzi grew up, her differences with the other dragons became more apparent. Her sense of curiosity grew only more intense with time, while the rest of her generation collectively decided that it was best to live simply by avoiding 'whys' altogether. She would go out and explore some of the ancient structures around the basin, trying to learn who built them, when they were built, what their purpose was. This fascination with the whys and whats of the word extended back home as well, where she would constantly pester adult dragons about the many artifacts that made up their hoards. Unfortunately, Yaretzi unusual personality in combination with the circumstances of her hatching led to a sense of disconnect between herself and the rest of her kind. The dragons of the Tenochtitlan Basin are raised by the community as a whole rather than just two parents, so for her to feel othered like this was very hurtful to her. While the other dragons were never unkind to her, Yaretzi could feel that they treated her differently. Odd looks, her propensity for being picked last for games, and incredibly brief conversations with others all contributed to these feelings. As a result, Yaretzi became even more isolated, heading out into the jungle for days at a time to escape the feelings alienation. It was during these excursions that she first introduced to books and pony society as a whole by finding the discarded backpack of an explorer. The dense, informative books contained within not only fueled the dragon's intense curiosity, but also gave her an idea of what a pony society was like - a place where everyone was just as inquisitive and intelligent as she was, a place where she would fit in. These absences for days at a time became relatively commonplace, so the other dragons just stopped paying it any mind. One day, however, Yaretzi left and didn't return for almost a month. Whilst essentially the black sheep of her community, they were still concerned and wondered where she had gone. Yaretzi did eventually come back, but she came back changed. Rather than keeping her head low because of how different she was than her peers, the dragon held it high for the exact same reason. She became incredibly aggressive in her pursuit of knowledge, butting heads with many elder dragons over the contents of their hoards. In that time she spent alone, Yaretzi had learned to not feel any shame for who she was and have no patience for those she considers to be beneath her. Adulthood and leaving home All dragons hoard treasure, but the hoards of the Tenochtitlan Basin dragons are unique in that they are almost entirely made up of dangerous, magical artifacts from ages past. The dragons of the basin know this, and are expected to protect their hoards from thieves once they reach adulthood. Yaretzi defied these expectations and rather than gathering a hoard for herself, chose to investigate the very artifacts she was expected to help protect. While the power of these magic-infused items was known to the dragons, their exact purpose, creator, and age were not and this is exactly what she sought to find out. Naturally, dragons do not take kindly to having others trying to go through their posessions, and Yaretzi ended up butting heads with many members of her community over these attempts. These altercations continued to escalate over a few years until one particular public spat, where Yaretzi called the rest of her race simple minded for not caring about what they protected under their bellies. After a few seconds of silence, the twenty-three-year-old dragoness flew off with a huff, heading for a place where she thought she'd find others like her. Early time in Ponyville When Yaretzi arrived in Ponyville, she dismayed to learn that pony society was not at all what she envisioned it to be. The dragoness expected everyone to be hyper-intelligent and inquisitive like the books presented them to be, but she found most of the ponies to be just average. This realization caused her to become more cynical and detached, along with lowering her expectations of just about everyone. Although vastly disappointed with Ponyville, Yaretzi felt settling in the town was the best possible option for her and ended up settling in a cave in the Everfree Forest. It was during this time that Yaretzi found her true calling in life as an archivist. In her mind, she felt ponies spent too much time trying to record information about important figures and events while more mundane records were being neglected. Grocery receipts, junk mail, student homework, ordinary information about ponies; these "important unimportant things" became Yaretzi's obsession. She began dumpster diving, checking mailboxes, and aggressively questioning ponies in order to document this information, which she brought to her cave to watch over. It was around this time that she started calling herself Ponyville's preeminent draconic archivist. While Yaretzi's impressive memory and organizational skills would normally make her an ideal candidate for several positions in town, her atitude precluded her from getting a job. However, the dragoness did eventually acquire a job at the Palace of Friendship as a librarian, as well as an apartment in town. She proved to be quite good at the bookish parts of jobs, but faltered when it came to interacting with others. Yaretzi nontheless made strides in being more social during her time working at the castle, spending time at public gatherings and around ponies in general. This led her to a few friends that she still has to this day. After a year and a half of working at the castle, Yaretzi abruptly left the castle staff. She didn't dislike the job and enjoyed the opportunity it gave to showcase her knowledge to others, but she couldn't shake the feeling that the books in the library weren't really hers. This fact bugged the proud dragoness immensely and ultimately compelled her to leave and focus on her own collection of records, which had suffered from a lack of attention during her employment. Present life Yaretzi currently lives in a renovated barn on the outskirts of town, visible from the road heading towards Canterlot. It's mostly dedicated to storing her records, but there is a reasonable space allotted for resting and/or relaxing. To support herself, the dragoness does odd jobs around town that match her skillset like organizing files for businesses, finding very specific books, and tidying up a filly's room before their mom gets home. Personality Yaretzi is, as would be expected for a dragon, incredibly abrasive and conceited. She always takes time in her initial conversations with others to specify her unique occupation and how different she is from other dragons in order to assert her superiority. She also has a tendency to underestimate the intelligence of whoever she's talking to, frequently giving the "you probably won't understand, but..." disclaimer before bringing up a topic. This isn't done out of any desire to put others down; it's just natural to her. Yaretzi tends to speak in a dry, matter-of-fact manner due to her jaded view on most things. However, when talking about her work with someone she feels understands her, she becomes much more animated and emotive. Conversely, when talking about someone or something that aggravates her, she becomes more shrill and occasionally hisses. While she often gives ponies the benefit of the doubt while keeping her expectations low, Yaretzi does not give this courtesy to dragons. She has an intense disdain for "ordinary" dragons, and will go out of her way to dissaude others from associating with them. While in their company, Yaretzi will actively try to make sure her head is highest among them and generally try to bring attention to herself. Yaretzi takes great pride in the preservation work she does and will actually feel hurt whenever someone tells her what she does isn't important. Although she gives off the impression of having a pessimistic view of everyone, Yaretzi does have a relative soft spot for a particular group: children. She is very patient with them and will actually try to help them if one comes to her with a problem. Yaretzi is prone to giving bad advice for friendship problems but she will at least make the attempt, which is more than she'd do for most. Category:OCs Category:Dragons